It’s a short week for the Denver Broncos, who play their most bitter rival — the Las Vegas Raiders — on Thursday Night Football. The Broncos are coming off a defensive slugfest in Week 9’s win over the Houston Texans, and divisional games are always challenging, especially with the Raiders.
Ahead of the NFL trade deadline on Tuesday, the Raiders traded receiver Jakobi Meyers, which takes some pressure off a beat-up Broncos secondary. Denver will again be without Patrick Surtain II, but fellow cornerback Riley Moss and safety Brandon Jones have also been added to the injury report this week.
Defensively, the Raiders are a middling unit, but they have found some solid footing over the past few weeks. The Raiders still have a game-wrecker or two on the unit who can take over the game, and some other pieces that Denver will need to be cautious of.
Since it is a short week, our key offensive and defensive matchups have been combined into one article, with three on each side of the ball. The Broncos have a lot of favorable matchups, but there are some they still need to be cautious about.
Nov 2, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Denver Broncos cornerback Jahdae Barron (23) warms up before a game against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium. / Sean Thomas-Imagn Images
CB Jahdae Barron vs. TE Brock Bowers
The Broncos have to figure out a way to keep Bowers limited in this game without allowing another weapon in the Raiders’ passing game to take over. That could lead to heavy usage for Barron, who could be tasked with stepping in to take on Bowers since Surtain is out and did a good amount of shadowing the star tight end in the two games last season.
Over the past few weeks, Barron has been used to take on tight ends and has had some success, and he is coming off a season-high 34 snaps and his first start against the Texans. The Broncos used Barron in multiple ways against the Texans, but they presented a wide variety of weapons.
The Broncos could task the rookie with Bowers because the Raiders’ offensive weapons are more questionable.
Safeties & LBs vs. TE Michael Mayer
With Meyers traded, that opens the door for Bowers and Mayer to be an even bigger part of the Raiders’ offense. Bowers takes the spotlight, but Mayer is still a good tight end who can create problems for opposing defenses in different ways than his teammate, and the two of them together are significantly worse.
Broncos’ OLBs vs. Raiders’ OTs
There are health concerns over the Raiders’ tackles, and DJ Glaze and Stone Forsythe have not been playing their best football. Forsythe has been the Raiders’ starting left tackle since Kolton Miller got hurt, and he has been playing terribly, allowing 10 pressures on 142 pass blocking snaps, which leads to the 14th-lowest pass-blocking efficiency among 72 tackles, which Garett Bolles leads.
Glaze has the 36th-lowest grade, so neither tackle is doing well, and they haven’t faced an edge duo quite like Bonitto and Cooper. There is such a tremendous advantage for the Broncos here.
If the Broncos’ secondary can hold up, they can put Geno Smith on the ground a lot throughout the game.
Oct 6, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby (98) leaps at Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix (10) for a sack in the second half at Empower Field at Mile High. / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
RT Mike McGlinchey vs. DE Maxx Crosby
With Bowers able to take over the game offensively, Crosby can do the same for the Raiders’ defense, and he always tends to have good-to-great games against the Broncos. He and McGlinchey have gone against each other multiple times, with some good back and forth, but the individual battle has leaned in Crosby’s favor.
In those previous games, McGlinchey had also played at a higher level than he has so far this season. This would be an ideal time for him to get back to that high level of play, but at the very least, the Broncos can’t have McGlinchey allow Crosby to disrupt everything offensively consistently.
TE Evan Engram vs. LB Devin White & S Jeremy Chinn
The Raiders have used multiple players to handle tight ends, but White and Chinn are the two with the most snaps who aren’t cornerbacks. Overall, the Raiders have done a good job shutting down tight ends this season, with only two touchdowns allowed and a high of 66 yards to one tight end.
Denver has had issues getting Engram involved in the offense consistently all season, and there seems to be a lack of connection between him and Bo Nix. If Denver wants to take some pressure off the defense and help its offense get some traction, Sean Payton has to find a way to get Engram more involved.
WRs Troy Franklin & Courtland Sutton vs. Raiders’ Secondary
While the Raiders’ secondary was questionable to start the season, they’ve made some adjustments, and that is where they have improved the most. The Raiders are still a mid-tier secondary, but it’s an improvement from being among the worst, and Denver still has some good advantages with its receivers against this secondary.
In fact, most of the advanced stats for the Raiders’ secondary players are favorable, with cornerback Darien Porter as the weakest link. He has played tight coverage but has struggled at the catch point, so Sutton on Porter could be a huge advantage for Denver.
As for Franklin, the Raiders love their cover-3 zone, and Franklin has become a good zone beater for the Broncos this season. As long as Nix can find him and Franklin can come down with the ball, there is a good opportunity for success against the Raiders.
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